Israeli intelligence under spotlight

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Already under scrutiny over the Prisoner X affair, Israel’s all-powerful spy agencies have once again found themselves in the spotlight with the explosive Oscar-nominated documentary “The Gatekeepers”. The film, which has been nominated for best documentary, is a French-Israeli production that sheds a harsh and unforgiving light on the operations of Israel’s Shin Bet internal security agency through the testimony of six of its former chiefs. Made with unprecedented candour and a level of introspection which is quintessentially Israeli, it offers a rare glimpse into the world of an intelligence agency accused of being a past master at dirty work. “This is an important film,” said Haaretz columnist Gideon Levy while reproaching its director Dror Moreh for “having made life a little too easy for these guys”.